Of course, this is a subjective list and is bound to be incomplete. I asked some colleagues what they thought should be on it, and they had their own ideas.

Italian reporter Sandro Magister, for example, whose blog pays careful attention to the pope’s words, agreed with me about the Regensburg address and the 2005 Roman Curia speech, but also suggested the pope’s January talk to the University of Rome– the one he didn’t get a chance to deliver after the visit was canceled because of protests. And among the pope’s homilies, Magister liked the one from Epiphany 2008, when the pope spoke eloquently about God and the “hope of history.” Yeah, I probably should’ve included that one.